I’m a 20-year-old analytical thinker and I need help. Recently I’ve figured out who I am (my personality type, the way I think, etc) & I’ve always had a desire to understand how things work and why. Whether it’s how bridges are built, why snow is snow, the history of planes, roads, engines, I always love to learn the stuff behind the scenes (the stuff that most people don’t know or think about). Any career tips? Btw, I’m not majoring in computer science or software engineering (every time I code I fall asleep).
Understanding how things work and why could encompass anything from science to engineering to social studies, primarily research. However, many research areas do not have that many jobs, so you may have to be elite at what you do to make a career out of it. Engineering research probably has more non-academic jobs than most other areas.
Do you like statistics? I mean working with large data sets, crunching numbers, that kind of stuff…
Look into product management.
My younger son is a bit like you. He’s good at math in theory, but not so much in practice. The jury is still out whether this is the right career for him, but he’s doing naval intelligence. He’s good with programming macros in Excel, but has no interest in computer programming - that he leaves to his older brother.
Supply chain management?
A number of people I work with would fit your description. Airline pilot, if you’re interested in aviation. It definitely isn’t boring, at least not to me.
Philosophy. If you can think analytically, efficiently, and understand how to apply that process to real world problems you can do anything. My husband has taught philosophy for thirty years and his students are doing everything from law,to rock star, including such things as a smoke jumper, a Oscar winning graphic artist, professors, teachers, non-profit administrators, several start-up CEOs. Do not limit yourself.
It will help to know more of your background. What you are studying now, what subjects you like or don’t like, what you like to do related to learning (building things or googling stuff on the internet)…these kinds of things.
My S works on a growth team at a tech start-up. Might be something for you to look into. He was a Politics major with a minor in history.
https://venturebeat.com/2016/11/19/what-the-heck-is-a-growth-team/
Look into Operations Management. Take a course in it if you can. Requires very logical thinking about how to solve problems – how many tennis courts to build, how to schedule airplanes and pilots over the holidays, other business problems.
Not a career suggestion, but do you listen to podcasts? You might enjoy Stuff You Should Know, Stuff to Blow Your Mind and 99% Invisible (I loved the recent episode about airships!)
HUH? That’s not the definition of an analytical thinker. It just isn’t. If you think it is…well…you missed something. I’m really not trying to be rude or snarky–please believe me—it’s just that you are using the wrong phrase to describe yourself and thus are getting some --in my not so humble opinion–bad advice. Philosophy really is one of the best majors for analytical thinking…but NOT for the self you’ve described.
Become a detective. Or FBI, CIA.
Or better yet, become someone that actually reads and responds to a thread that they started. An analytical thinker would probably appreciate that they would get more and better feedback that way.